A total of 11 general elections over the past 48 years. Is the ‘system’ working? Have a look at the four ground realities. One, the 342-member, democratically elected National Assembly of Pakistan has become more or less irrelevant to whatever is happening on the ground. Two, the 100-member, indirectly elected Senate of Pakistan – or a part of it – seems as if it's being ‘bought and sold’. Three, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the apex court in Pakistan’s judicial hierarchy, is in a state of some sort of infighting. Four, the executive is going all out to undermine the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
The ‘system’ was supposed to benefit the 220 million. Has it? The ‘system’ was supposed to raise the standard of living of the 220 million. Did it? The ‘system’ was supposed to lift Pakistanis out of poverty. For the record, 73 years after independence, around 40 percent of Pakistan’s population is forced into surviving below the poverty line. Lo and behold, 90 million Pakistanis are now managing to survive below the line of poverty.
Have a close look at the most recent by-election in NA-75 Daska. One, elections in Pakistan are intra-elite tribal warfare. Two, these tribals are armed-to-the-teeth. Three, election time government machinery turns completely partisan. Four, an election is more of a war to capture state resources. Five, there's nothing in it for the common Pakistani. Six, we civilians cannot even count votes on our own.
Why do I insist that there’s nothing in it for the common Pakistan? Here’s why: In 1990, Pakistan’s GDP per capita (income) was $371, higher than China’s $317. Over the following 29 years, Pakistan’s GDP per capita went from $371 to $1,284 while China’s GDP per capita went from $317 to $10,261. Lo and behold, in 1990 China’s GDP per capita was lower than Pakistan’s – and now China’s is 8 times Pakistan’s. Clearly, Pakistan’s ‘system’ did not work while China’s did.
Pakistan’s ‘system’ has produced three things: an exclusionary political system, extractionary institutions and serious political instability. The two prerequisites for entering Pakistan’s political system are: a billion-rupee war chest plus lineage. Our institutions are Robin Hoods in reverse – stealing from the poor and giving to the rich. On top of that, we now have politicians who are engaged not in politics but in contests of immorality, revenge, animosity and extreme hate.
Systems sans rules fail. Clearly, our system has no rules. Our ‘political system’ has no rules. The party-in-power has no rules; nor does the opposition. In this day and age, repairing the ‘system’ is no rocket science. All we need to do is two things: repair our political culture and repair our model of governance. We need competition in politics – let the best people rise; merit as opposed to loyalty or family lineage.
Our current model of governance is taking us towards anarchy. We need to detach elected legislators from executive authority. We need domain experts and subject specialists as managers and elected legislators as part of oversight committees. Our politics is now without principles. Politics without principles results in anarchy, and anarchy turns into violence. Our politics is now without any ‘national interest’. We need politics of ‘national interest’. We need ‘ethics of office’ and ‘ethics of policy’. History is witness that anarchy, failed states and armed groups coexist.
The writer is a columnist based in Islamabad.
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